No. 5 Baylor routs No. 8 Iowa State for women's Big 12 title

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NaLyssa Smith scored 28 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds as No. 5 Baylor clinched at least a share of its 12th consecutive Big 12 regular-season title with an 87-62 win over No. 8 Iowa State on Monday night.

Smith was the catalyst as the Bears (24-5, 14-3 Big 12) seized control in the second quarter and cruised to their ninth straight win.

Jordan Lewis contributed 23 points for Baylor as the Bears completed a season sweep of the Cyclones.

"It’s the expectation here," first-year Baylor coach Nicki Collen said. "And you know, the pressure was on. We were picked to win it. We were 0-2 and everyone was counting us out and we were vulnerable."

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Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith (1) shoots over Iowa State guard Ashley Joens (24) and forward Morgan Kane (31) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

Baylor became the first team since 2000 to lose its first two games in the league and rally to win the title.

"I think it’s more about our resiliency," Collen said. "It’s about putting ourselves in this position to compete in this game and then not just compete in this game, but to own it, you know, to really own it on both sides of the ball."

Ashley Joens led Iowa State (24-5, 13-4) with 19 points, hitting 11 of 12 free throw attempts but shooting 4 of 19 from the floor.

There were six lead changes early in the second quarter, before Baylor seized control.

Joens made two free throws to put Iowa State up 24-21, but the Bears answered with a 13-2 run.

"We kind of stopped playing defense," Joens said. "We needed to get some stops and we